Indonesia
on Monday began re-vaccinating nearly 200 children who received fake versions
of imported inoculations from a drug-counterfeiting ring broken up last month
after operating for more than a decade.
President
Joko Widodo urged calm as public uproar intensified over revelations that
health officials knew about the syndicate producing the fake vaccines for
several years but did little to stop it.
The
scandal has exposed major weaknesses in the oversight of the health sector,
which has expanded rapidly alongside a growing middle class.
No
illnesses or deaths have been directly linked to the fake vaccines, officials
have said.
"I
want to ask people to stay calm because this incident happened over such a long
time," Widodo told reporters at a Jakarta clinic offering re-vaccinations.
"We
need more time to investigate so we can get the real data of people who
suffered from these fake vaccines."
The ring
used stolen vials and forged labels to make the fake medicine look like
imported vaccines produced by GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi. State-owned Bio Farma
produces nearly all vaccines available in Indonesia.
At least
28 health care facilities throughout the country, including Jakarta and the
tourist resort island of Bali, were suspected of buying fake booster vaccines
for hepatitis B, diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough.
Health
officials said the sham vaccines contained the antibiotic gentamicin and saline
solution and were not harmful and made up only 1 percent of total vaccines in
Indonesia.
Investigators
are trying to determine how widely the fake drugs were distributed.
Police
have arrested nearly two dozen people, including drugmakers, pharmacists,
doctors and nurses.
Police
have identified at least 197 children for re-vaccination, but many more are
expected to be confirmed.
Health
Minister Nila Moeloek told Reuters officials knew fake vaccines were being
distributed in 2013 but she declined to say why action was not taken sooner.
The president has ordered an overhaul of the food and drug monitoring agency.
One
mother, Rina Herlina Sari, told Reuters she no longer trusted private clinics.
"The
government should revoke their permits," she said.
Reuters
reporters visited the clinic accused of giving Sari's daughter, and other
children, fake vaccines, and found it operating. Its main midwife had been
arrested but other staff were working.
"The
overall facility is a health facility with other areas of care so we have to
allow it to continue," Agung Setya, director of criminal police
investigations, told Reuters.
"It
is up to the health ministry to decide whether to shut it down."
(Additional
reporting by Kanupriya Kapoor; Editing by Robert Birsel and Nick Macfie)
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